Confederacy museum deal in limbo

The real estate deal that ultimately would provide land for the Museum of the Confederacy in Appomattox still hangs in limbo, nearly nine months after it was announced.

The proposal is for the town of Appomattox to purchase four acres near U.S. 460 and state Route 24 for $325,000. The land would be leased to the museum for a nominal charge.

Since then, there has been discussion of the county perhaps purchasing neighboring land also for lease to the museum, but no details were available Wednesday.

Appomattox County Administrator Aileen Ferguson would say only that museum President and CEO S. Waite Rawls III would speak before supervisors in open session.

Town Mayor Paul Harvey couldn't give details, other than to say, "our portion of the deal is not closed yet. The time to have closed on it has passed, so it's really in limbo."

Museum spokeswoman Megan Stagg said the delay was caused by negotiations, but plans still are moving forward as scheduled. Construction was said to be scheduled to begin sometime this fall. Stagg said it is still on schedule.

"Basically, what they're trying to do is work a deal where we get the best benefit for the town and county and museum, and there's just a lot of people trying to get on the same page."

The museum announced it would create a site in Appomattox as part of an expansion to bring the largest collection of Civil War artifacts to sites throughout Virginia. Other sites are planned for near Fredericksburg and Fort Monroe near Hampton Roads.

Sarah Watson is a staff writer for the News & Advance in Lynchburg.